Material for making articles of furniture, &amp;c.



ii. B.-MORRIS. MATERIAL FOR MAKING ARTICLES OF FURNITURE, 6w.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24 1908.

926,996, Patented July 6, 1909",

2 SHEETS-BHEET l H. B. MORRIS.

MATERIAL FOR MAKING ARTICLES 0F FURNITURE, 6w.

APPLICATION FILED KPH. 24 1908.

Patented July 6, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

"shows how the compressed cord may HAROLD B. MORRIS, OF MICHIGAN CITY, INDIANA.

MATERIAL FOR MAKING ARTICLES OF FURNITURE, 850.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 6, 1909.

Application filed. April 24, 1908. Serial No. 429,090.

To all whom tt may concern:

Be it known that I, HAROLD B. Mourns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Michigan City, in the county of Laporte and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Material for Making Articles of Furniture, tc, of which the following is a s ieciiication.

- roducc a new material for use in the manu 'iacturc of chairs, settccs and other articles of furniture where reed, ratan. or flag is now commonly employed.

According to my invention I employ as the foundation for my improved material wood fibers, as for example, OXC-OlSlOl or other vegetable fibers. I treat this material in such ntianner as to form it into strands or cords of any desired length and of the requisite thicln'mss, diameter or width and render it so strong and, where necessary, so flexible, that it may be em iloyed with facility to produce articles of pleasing appearance and of durability.

While my improved material is especially intended for use in making articles of furniturc, such as chairs, it may also be used in the construction of baskets, baby carriages, and many other articles.

In the accompanying drawings 1 have shown diagrammatieally ho-w strands, cords and braids may be made l'rom wood fibers or Vegetable fibers in acrordanec with my in vention. it will be understood, however, that the apiaratus and process are shown conventionally or diagrammatically and may Figure l is a ')erspective view showing how the loose vegetable. or wood libel-s maybe passed between rolls to flatten not only the mass but also the individual fibers. Fig. 2 shows how the mass of fibers may be sprayed,

l be varied within wide limits. p formed into a cord, compressed and rolled.

Fig. 3 illustrates how-cords or strands produeed in accordance with my invention may be braided. Fig. 4 shows how the braided cords maybe twisted or spun. Fig. 5 shows how the cords may be compressed. Fig.}6 .IG rubbed or polished Fig. 7 shows how &. braided. cord may be compressed and flat- .tcncd and then po'lishcd'or made smooth.

It is common to l The principal oltqect of this invention is to k employ comparatively The assembling device B may 'be'constructcd short lengths of reed, :ratan, or flag in the manufacture of (lllitlISpGtG. and it is-also common to use strands, cords or braids of indefinito length made'of cords or paper. 1 prel 'er to make my cords, strands or braids of indefinite length as they can be more advantageously manufactured in this way and can be more conveniently used. The material which I employ as a foundation or body :for the strands or cords of my improved material is wood fiber or other vegetable fiber. Preferably I employ cxcelsior, which is wood fiber, in a shredded condition.

If it is desirable that the material when finished shall be colored, as the first step in the process I stain or If desired different masses of loose fibers ma be separately dyed with fast colors, that wi 1 not be affected by the subsequent treatment, and then mixed together and when this is thoroughly dry I impregnate the mass of fibers with adhesivemateriahas, for example, a mixture of glue and glycerin which will have the efiect of makingthe fibers "flexible and the flexibility finished article. When the masses of fibers are not colored the first's'tep in the process is that of imp regnating the 'fibers with adhesive material. The mass or-masses of loose fibers thus treated may be passed through rolls A (Fig. 1) which may be heated and which compress the mass X oi fibcrs, flatten the individual fibers, cause the adhesive material to penetrate alhgarts of the mass and squeeze-out surplus a next step in the process isthat ol assembling the fibers )ermancntlytogether into a strand or cord. orlthis purposethc iibrons matcrialmay be led to suitable assembling mechanism B (Fig. 2-), the details ofwhich are not shownv as there are'malny assembling devices known in the art which ma be employed. Preparatory to assembling, usually apply adhesive material to the flattened mass of *ated'pipe C (Fig. 2).

'terial is assembled permanently into a cord" or strand 1 may apply adhesive material to the strand or cord in the manner indicated at D and then'pass the cord through grooved rollers E which shabe it, compress it, and squeeze out the surplus adhesive material.

hesive material. The

.to be described.

pui'poses, The braided cord may, if desired,

to twist or spin the fibers as illustrated. There are many spinning" or twisting devices known in the art which'may be em loyed. After the strand or cord has )assed t irough the rollers E it may be woun onto a reel F. The cord or strand produced as described may be, in many cases, used in the manufacture of chairs, or other articles, but the process may be continued in the manner next Several cords or strands as, for example, those shown at G, say three, may be braided in the manner indicated, and referably, either before or while being braided, they are treated with adhesive material. Any suitable braiding mechanism well known in the art may be employed. In this braided form the cords may be used in covering chair frames. and for many other next betwisted by any suitable mechanism in the manner indicated in Fig. 4. A twisted braided cord made in this way is verystrong and durable, and more suitable for use in some connections than the untwisted braid, or the nnbraided cord. The process may be co tinued by forming a large braid of twisted raided cords.

Adhesive material is applied during the several processes above described wherever necessary to cause the fibrous material, the cords or the braids to firmly adhere.

The cord shown in Fig. 4 may be passed between grooved rollers H (Fi 5), to compress it, render it smooth an s ueeze out the surplus material. If desire the rolls may be milled or otherwise formed to produce an ornamental effect on the material.

A fine finish may be given to the cord or braid by ap lying one or mere'co'ats of size of preferably flexible adhesive material. When this is dry one or more coats of waterproof finishing material may be applied. in order to smooth, rub or polish the cord, strand or braid it may be passed through a polishing device, such as indicated at I in Fig. 6. This ma be of any suitable con struction, preferably ads of felt i are employed and any suitalile polishing material, such as rotten stone, oil, etc., may be used in the process of polishing or rubbing.

After the chair or other article is covered with my improved material it may be dipped bodily into a tank of glue size and when this is dry one or more coats of varnish'may be a )plied by dipping or by the brush. When the cords have been shellacked varnished, rubbed or polished in the manner indicated in Fig. 6, it is not usually necessary to dip the articles into glue or to varnish them.

I may, instead of making cords flexible, make them quit stiff so that they may be used in lite-construction of the frames of chairs andsuch articles where reeds are now used. N 0 other change in the process may be made in order to form reeds except to 1 It will be undcrstrod that a variety of.

colors ma be given to the material by judicious se ection of different colored masses of fibers. Aperfectly plain color may be. obtained by using fibers of one color. By mixing fibers of differr-nl colors before passing them through the rolls, A, a great variety of coloring in the product may be obtained.

I have already desc'ibed in a general way how braid may be made lrom the strands or cords )roduced according to my invention. In malring braid 1 may take cords, either of the kind shown in Fig. .3, or that shown in Fig. 5, and after they have been varnished and shellacked, form a braid from them, as shownv in Fig. 7, and I preferably pass this braid through rollers K which serve to co1npress and [latten it and as this 0 )eration is apt to injure the varnished braid, may give to the braid, after it has passed through the r0lls, a coating of varnish and when tins is dry, 1 may run the braid between buffing wheels or polishcrs, as indicated at l) in Fig. 7. suitable way by suitable ornamenting rolls. When cords or braids of my irnn'oved material, which have not been rub ed or polished, are used in the construction of a chair or other article, I prefer to dip the entire article after completion into a bath of glue size or other similar material and then ap ily one or more coats of varnish.

0 claim is made herein to the method of manufacture herein described as such claims are made in my application No. 450,417, filed August 27, 1908.

I claim as my invention: 1. A strand or cord for use in the mainlr a facture of chairs or other articles, COHSIStIIl of excelsior treated withadhesive materia and compressed to form such a cord or strand.

2. A strand for use in the manufacture of chairs or other articles, consisting of a plur rality of cords of loose fibrous material, treated with adhesive material, braided and twisted, substantially as described.

o. A strand or cord for use in the manufacture of chairs or other articles, consisting of excelsior treated with adhesive material, twisted, braided and again twisted! 4 A cord or strand for use in the manufacture of chairs or other articles, consisting of differently colored masses of loose shredded fibrous material, treated with adhesive material and compressed.

5. A cord or strand for-use in the manufactu re of chairs or other articles, consisting of differently colored masses of. shredded fibrous material, treated with adhesive material, and assembled permanently and conipactly together. Y

The braid may be ornamented in any 6. A cord or strand for use in the manu- In testimony whereof, I have hereunto fiat??? of chairs gr ogher articles,i eoyrllsisltilng subscribed my name. 0 (i erent e0 ore masses 0 s re ced fibrous matezial treated with adhesive mew HAROLD MORRIS 5 terial assembled permanently .and com-l Witnesses:

pectly together, and covered with finishing SHEPARD J. CRUMPAOKER, materiel. 1 J. J. WATSON. 

